B Sai Praneeth continued his dominance over his compatriot Kidambi Srikanth as he emerged victorious in the first ever all Indian finals at a Super Series event. Despite losing the first game and going down 6-1 in the second game, Sai Praneeth was determined and improved as the match progressed. Eventually, he won the OUE Singapore Open Men's final.
This win for Sai Praneeth also marks just the second title win for an Indian at a Super Series event. After struggling to find his form early on in the match, Sai Praneeth's confidence grew as the match progressed as he won 17-21, 21-17, 21-12.
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During the early stages of the match it looked like Srikanth could be on course to win the OUE Singapore Open Men's final title after he took the first game and raced to a huge lead in the second. Sai Praneeth however was not going to give up so easily and managed to pull off an outstanding comeback as Srikanth's bad form against him continued.
Srikanth took the first game 17-21 after Sai Praneeth took an early 2-0 lead in the game. Srikanth however clawed his way back with a few quick points as he looked to win only his second Super Series title.
Despite being down 20-15, Sai Praneeth did not let go of the first game so easily. The Indian badminton player saved two game points and got the score to 20-17 but the final rally between the two which lasted 23 shots was won by Srikanth which also got him the opening game.
Sai Praneeth found his feet in the second game and despite Srikanth getting a huge lead of 6-1 early on, Sai Praneeth was not ready to give up so easily and fought back hard. He managed to level the game 8-8 and went into the break leading 11-10.
Following the break, Sai Praneeth was cool and composed for the rest of the game and after a service error by Srikanth, Sai Praneeth capitalised and got the game point in the second game which he won 21-17 and he levelled the match 1-1.
Srikanth once again got off to a good start in the third game but could not maintain that form as the match progressed as Sai Praneeth once again turned things around. He led 11-5 at the break and looked more and more confident as he had his eye on his first ever Super Series title.
He raced to an eight point advantage after the break and produced a brilliant comeback after going down in the first game as he won the match 21-12 to claim his first ever Super Series title.
